Close Reading Word Choice Questions National 5 Learning

Close Reading Word Choice Questions National 5

Learning Intentions To understand the effect that the choice of word can have in a piece of text. To understand what connotations are Success Criteria

I can …. . • Understand the effect word choice has in text • Discuss the connotations of that choice • Identify interesting word choice in fiction and nonfiction. I know …. • How to answer word choice questions

Word Choice This is a very simple idea. When you are being asked about word choice you are simply being asked to look at the words and see why the writer has chosen those particular words to describe some thing or some feeling, rather than any other similar words. A person who is under average weight for his or height, for example, could be called ‘underweight’, ‘skinny’, or ‘slim’. What would be the effect if the writer chose the word ‘underweight’?

Probably you could say that the person was being looked at in a clinical, sort of medical way, and being seen as in need of treatment. Perhaps the context of the passage might be a political one, talking about disadvantaged areas where people do not get enough to eat. If the writer chose to use the word ‘skinny’, what would the effect be? The person is being described as thin in an unattractive way, perhaps suggesting something angular and bony. If the writer chose ‘slim’, what would the effect be of this particular word?

Again the person is being described as thin, but in an attractive way, suggesting perhaps a smooth, neat, elegant, appearance. ‘underweight’, ‘thin’, ‘skinny’ and ‘slim’ all mean roughly the same thing, but the effect of choosing one of them instead of the other three is quite powerful. What makes the difference is the connotation of each word.

So what is a Word Choice Question in Close Reading? - When you are asked to identify words used by the writer because of their effect. - You have to identify the words, the effect they have and explain how they achieve this effect. How to answer a Word Choice Question: - Focus on individual words. - No marks for simply picking out a word. - Compare your word to a more neutral word, e. g. ‘strode’ compared to ‘walked. ’

Things to consider in a word choice question: 1. Colloquial language / slang. An informal tone is created. Perhaps uses second person (you), informal reference to a person e. g. using their first name or a nickname, abbreviations. 2. Emotive language – strong words to stir / manipulate emotions. These words will have strong connotations. Emotive language often reveals the writer’s attitude to their topic. 3. Jargon – technical / formal language. 4. Archaisms – old fashioned words. 5. Dialect – the opposite to standard English; English spoken in a particular area, e. g. Glaswegian dialect. This makes language more expressive, lively and natural.

Word Choice Formula 1. Identify the word(s) or phrase(s) / attitude from the text. This means you pick out the important words or phrases and put them into quotation marks. 2. Denotation - give a literal meaning of the word (often a definition. ) 3. Explain why the word is effective in the passage. Do this by giving connotations of the word. Connotations are the words that spring to mind when you read / hear certain words. E. g. Dove = freedom, peace, happiness. Red = danger, upset, fear. 4. Use the connotations to show it conveys a particular attitude / feeling etc.

Example One (2007): The writer refers to “wizards and witches throughout history” Explain by referring to word choice how the rest of the sentence continues this idea. 2 marks And flight attracts our eyes, lifts our heart with joy and envy. Flight, to us earthbound creatures, is a form of magic—one of the great powers attributed to decent wizards and witches throughout history is the ability to fly, from the persecuted sorcerers of the Dark Ages to the players of the game of quidditch.

ANSWER Word choice: “(persecuted) sorcerers”/“players of the game of quidditch” (1) continues idea of wizards (1); OR “Dark Ages” / “sorcerers” and “quidditch” (1) reprise the idea of “throughout history” (1).

Example Two: 2008 - What is surprising about the writer’s word choice in the first sentence? 2 marks At the beginning of this month I was in a hellish yet beautiful place. I was making a programme for Radio 4 about one of the world’s most ancient trade routes. Every year, since (we suppose) at least the time of the Ancient Greeks, hundreds of thousands of camels are led, strung together in trains, from the highlands of Ethiopia into the Danakil depression: a descent into the desert of nearly 10, 000 feet, a journey of about 100 miles. Here, by the edge of a blue-black and bitter salt lake, great floes of rock salt encrusting the mud are prised up, hacked into slabs and loaded on to the camels.

ANSWER There is a contradiction (1) in “hellish yet beautiful” (1)

Example Three: 2008 - Explain why any one example of the writer’s choice of descriptive detail in the lines below emphasises the hardships of the journey. 1 mark The camels drink only twice on their journey, walking often at night, and carrying with them straw to eat on the way back. Their drivers bring only dry bread, sugar and tea.

ANSWER The camels drink only twice − we would expect more Walking at night − implies the heat of the day The camels have to carry their own fodder − an additional burden Straw to eat − not nutritious Dry bread/“only…bread, sugar and tea” − unappetising/unvaried//limited range and/or not nutritious Reference alone = 0

Example Four: 2008 - Explain fully the appropriateness of the word choice of “rubbernecking tourists in helicopters” (line 41). 2 marks The day is coming when camels will go down there no more. In fifty years the Danakil will be a national park, visited by rubbernecking tourists in helicopters. Camels will be found in zoos. Goats will be on their way to elimination from every ecologically fragile part of the planet.

ANSWER rubbernecking - suggests insensitivity/ghoulishness tourists - suggests invasiveness/superficiality helicopters - suggests intrusive modernity OR detachment OR (financial) contrast

Example Five: 2008 - Explain how the writer develops the idea of Las Vegas being “Unreal”. 2 marks Even in America, deserts are not properly inhabited any more. Unreal places such as Las Vegas have sprung up where people live in an air-conditioned and artificially irrigated bubble, but the land itself is emptier than before. Tribes who were part of the land, and lived off it, have mostly gone, their descendants living in reservations. The wilderness places of North America are vast and exceptionally well preserved; but they are not part of many people’s lives, except those of tourists. We are becoming outsiders to the natural world, watching it on the Discovery Channel.

ANSWERS “sprung up” (1) - suggests an unnatural speed of growth (1) “air-conditioned” (1) - illustrates the necessity of climate alteration/modification/control (1) “artificially” (1) - relates to the idea of falseness (1) artificially irrigated (1) - illustrates the innate dryness/hostility/ uninhabitable quality of the place (1) “bubble” (1) - suggests its fragility/quality of being insulated from elsewhere (1)

Example Six: 2010 - Show any one feature of Neil Mac. Gregor’s word choice makes it clear that he thinks of Qin as someone special. 2 marks I only began to grasp this a few months ago when I travelled to Xi’an to visit the First Emperor’s mind-boggling mausoleum, home to his Terracotta Army. “This is one of the people who changed the world, ” said Neil Mac. Gregor, director of the British Museum. “There are terribly few historical figures whose achievements lasted like that. This is really one of the great, great figures in human history. ”

ANSWERS changed the world (1) suggests large extent of influence (1) terribly few (1) conveys near-uniqueness (1) (whose achievements) lasted like that (1) suggests permanence of influence (1) Really (1) intensifies (1) “great” (1) shows attitude of high regard (1) repetition of “great, great” (1) emphasises (1) Example (1) plus analysis (1)

Example Seven: 2010 - How does the writer convey the grandness or large scale of the tomb in the lines below? You should refer to technique as well as content. 2 marks The ancient sources refer to 700, 000 people labouring on the tomb, but make no reference to what else the Emperor had devised under the ground. This is presumably because they didn’t know about his subterranean empire, which lay undisturbed until 1974. Those of the 600 pits that have been examined have yielded almost 1, 800 mass produced clay figures with another 6, 000 believed to exist. In this mountain fastness Qin Shihuangdi wanted an army to protect him from his enemies, but also wanted his civil servants on hand musicians and acrobats to entertain him.

ANSWER Word choice he uses “empire”, which suggests size of construction OR he uses “army”, which alludes to the large numbers of figures (1)

Example Eight: 2010 - What does the writer gain by using “toil” rather than the word “work”? 1 mark The first Emperor survived at least three assassination attempts in subsequent years, incidents that served to tighten his grip on every aspect of life. He created a surveillance culture in which neighbours were expected to spy on each other and lived in fear of terrible punishments for failing to do so or for breaking the many laws. One of the most miserable punishments, which very often proved to be a death sentence, was to be dispatched into the wilderness to toil on the construction of the wall Qin Shihuangdi had ordered to be built along the northern frontier of the empire.

ANSWERS It conveys the hardship/protractedness/drudgery of the work

Example Nine: 2010 - Show an aspect of what Neil Mac. Gregor says effectively conveys his sense of wonder. Your answer should refer to an example of word choice or structure. 2 marks “I can’t think of anyone else who had the scale of ambition to think of replicating their entire kingdom, ” says Mac. Gregor. “Nobody else in human history has attempted to do that, and what is fascinating is that it’s the eternal underground that has survived and nothing else. We have no buildings, we have no writings, this is all that survives. The people making the figures knew they were making them to serve the Emperor and live forever. And in a funny way they have. ”

word choice “I can’t think of anyone else” (1) (emphatically) conveys sense of uniqueness (1) “scale of ambition” (1) (clearly) conveys size of imagination/grandeur of plan (1) “entire kingdom” (1) (clearly) conveys size of undertaking (1) “Nobody else (in human history has attempted to do that)” (1) (emphatically) conveys sense of uniqueness/rareness (1) “fascinating” (1) (clearly) suggests the captivating nature of (this aspect of) the story (1) structure repetition of “anyone/ nobody else” (1) (clearly) emphasises uniqueness (1) repetition of “we have no” (1) (clearly) emphasises uniqueness (1) One mark for feature, one for evaluative comment; NB cause of admiration must be explained – mere repetition of “wonder” = 0

Example Ten: 2010 - Explain why any example of the word choice in the final paragraph contributes to a neat conclusion to the passage. 2 marks There is no substitute for seeing the mass ranks of the Terracotta Army. But the British Museum wants to do two things: show visitors a selection of warriors up close in a way that is not possible in Xi’an, and tell the story of the man whose breathtaking megalomania gave us one of the wonders of the world. The telling of that story is long overdue. (It may be helpful to have a copy of the whole passage for this question)

ANSWERS “mass ranks” (1) recapitulates idea of large numbers (1) “Terracotta Army” (1) returns to an expression used in opening paragraph (1) “(breathtaking) megalomania” (1) recapitulates ideas/word used earlier (1) “wonders of the world” (1) recapitulates idea of magnificence (1) “(The telling of that story is long) overdue” (1) recapitulates idea of undeserved anonymity (1) Any one example + explanation

Example Eleven: 2011 - Look at the sentence “But…texting? ” (a)In this sentence, what point is the writer making about attitudes to texting? 1 mark But has there ever been a linguistic phenomenon that has aroused such curiosity, suspicion, fear, confusion, antagonism, fascination, excitement and enthusiasm all at once as texting?

ANSWERS They were varied / differing / contrasting / controversial / intense

(b) Show the writer’s word choice helps to reinforce this point. 1 mark Ever since the arrival of printing—thought to be the invention of the devil because it would put false opinions into people’s minds—people have been arguing that new technology would have disastrous consequences for language. Scares accompanied the introduction of the telegraph, the telephone, and broadcasting. But has there ever been a linguistic phenomenon that has aroused such curiosity, suspicion, fear, confusion, antagonism, fascination, excitement and enthusiasm all at once as texting? And in such a short space of time. Less than a decade ago, hardly anyone had heard of it.

Word choice Comment may be on the varied / contradictory nature of words used: NB comment, not mere identification (may be exemplified, e. g. opposing nature of “antagonism” and “enthusiasm”) Or “such” suggesting intensity of reactions Or “phenomenon” suggests (e. g. ) social concern Or “all at once” suggests disturbing / contradictory nature of reactions

Example Twelve: 2013 - Explain why any one example of the writer’s word choice from paragraph 1 helps to give the impression that the place she describes is “miserable”. 1 mark It is a Saturday night in the northernmost fringes of London. Outside an anonymous building with blanked-out windows, a discarded plastic bag swirls in the breeze.

ANSWER “fringes” suggests peripheral / marginalised quality “anonymous building” suggests lack of distinction “blanked-out windows” suggests (eg) fortress-like quality / anonymity / figurative facelessness / desolation NB one mark only for this question “discarded plastic bag” suggests ugliness / neglect / lack of concern for environment “swirls in the breeze” suggests windiness / cheerlessness / neglect Any one. Mark is for comment, not selection, and must use an expression other than “miserable” or “misery”.

Example Thirteen: 2013 - Look at the lines below, and then explain what is suggested by the writer’s word choice of either “slick” or “web”. 1 mark By now most of us know that the version of reality on offer is one shaped by a multimillion-pound business with slick production values, and yet we willingly suspend our disbelief week after week, month after month, in the name of entertainment. Is there something lacking in our daily lives that draws us so inexorably into Cowell’s web?

ANSWER One or the other! Marking of this question will probably be quick – if both words are attempted, reward only one answer slick: efficient / polished or deceptive web: predation / entrapment / sinister quality / allembracing quality